deadly blast

Kabul Explosion Kills 10

Near where gathering of elders is to take place.

Ten people were killed and at least 20 wounded on Saturday when a suicide car bomber detonated in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The explosion, which the Taliban have taken responsibility for, went off only a few hours after President Hamid Karza announced that negotiators had completed a draft deal of a U.S.-Afghan pact which will be presented to the Loya Jirga, a gathering of 3,000 elders which must approve the deal before it goes to parliament. The gathering will take place only 200 meters from where the car bomb went off. U.S. officials have refused to comment on the draft, saying the effort is an ongoing diplomatic process, while Karzai has said there are still “differences” between the U.S. and Afghanistan on the deal.